France midfielder N'Golo Kante refused to have part of his Chelsea salary paid under advantageous tax terms in Jersey or to receive offshore payments for his image rights, according to a Football Leaks investigation published on Wednesday.

The report by French investigative site Mediapart said that six weeks before Kante left Leicester for Chelsea in 2016, a company called NK Promotions was registered in Jersey, in an apparent attempt to pay 10 percent of the players' income abroad to avoid tax, AFP reported.

Mediapart was unsure whether the company was set up by Chelsea or Kante's relatives.

At first, Kante's lawyer suggested his client would "approve" the setup, but last year the 27-year-old insisted through his tax advisor that he refused to take any offshore payments.

"N'Golo is inflexible, he simply wants a normal salary," Kante's tax advisor said in May 2017 in an email sent to Chelsea executives.

"After reading numerous press articles on image rights and tax investigations against players and clubs, N'Golo is increasingly concerned that the setup proposed to him could be questioned by the tax authorities.

"N'Golo decided that he did not want to take any risks."

Kante has become a fan favorite in England since winning a memorable Premier League title with Leicester in 2016, before lifting the trophy again the following season at Chelsea and being named PFA Player of the Year.

He also started all seven of France's matches as his country won the World Cup in Russia this year.

Two-year ban

Mediapart also reported that FIFA's Integrity & Compliance Department has proposed sanctions on Chelsea of being unable to sign any player for four transfer windows, effectively two years, as well as a fine.

World football's governing body is investigating 19 signings of the London club, of which 14 were under the approved age of 18, without falling into other allowed categories, or being given special permission.

Among the 14 signings under investigation is that of Bertrand Traoré, now a Lyon player in Ligue 1.

The Burkinabe forward officially arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2014, aged 18, however FIFA have documents that suggest the club acted in bad faith surrounding the real dates of the transfer.

In October 2011 (when Traoré was just 16) the player was involved in a U-18 match against Arsenal.

The club was forced to confess that it actually acquired a first refusal option on the youngster from his mother in April 2011.